I had a horrible experience with the staff and Dr. Caiola. I felt like a number from day one. The fist impression involved the staff at the office loudly complaining to each other about patients. Questions were answered with"Nope"or Yeah". I chalked this up to bad manners and poor customer service training. My first appointment involved a few questions but with very little conversation. I noticed Dr. Caiola had difficulty maintaining eye contact and the conversation ended when he did not feel like responding anymore. It was awkward, but again, some people don't have people skills. To make a long story longer..... the day of my foot surgery Dr. Caiola did not greet me or my husband, he just picked up my chart and said he would be with me shortly. My husband asked if that was the doctor?? ...indicating that he was not very personable. I am not sure if this is ego or awkwardness, either way....the staff at the surgery center described it as "moodiness". Btw.....the staff at The Brighton Surgery center (a different entity) was great. Anyway, I never saw the doctor after that, but his office called the next day while I was asleep. When I returned the call a half hour later, they did not know who I was or why I was calling. When they finally figured it out, the administrator said" we are calling to see how you are doing?." I usually remember who I call, and I would hope they would remember me. I explained that I was in a lot of pain...she said hang on, then came back and said I should be fine since the doctor gave me enough pain medicine." I was surprised by the tone and dismissiveness and wondered why she bothered to ask. I asked her how she knew I would be fine?" She dismissed the question and said the Dr. will see you on Tuesday for your follow up and hung up. I called back and spoke with another person who was equally rude. I asked to speak directly with Dr. CAIOLA. She responded that she was speaking to him for me. I said I think I have a right to speak to the Dr. , she said "hold on"....guess how long I held for? I hung up and called back and it went directly to voice mail, saying the office was closed. I called back again and said that I wanted to work with a different doctor, one that was more responsive. I hate paying someone to treat me poorly. She put me on hold and then came back and said...."The Dr. will release your records to another doctor but NOT TO YOU, for you post operative treatment. BUT NO OTHER Doctor will likely work with you". I asked her why they would blacklist me, as I am a human being and this is a free country. She then put the Dr. on the phone who immediately started to lecture me about calming down and not being emotional. I told him that I feel is important and that I was vulnerable and this would be a great time for him to pull out his best bedside manner. He said, that was what he was doing by picking up the phone. The conversation ended.
I am sure many people don't care about the Dr.s bedside manner, or if he cares at all, but I do. This is one of the worst I've seen. If that is important to you, then think twice about Westside Podiatry. read more
